It is not long before the long-awaited elections and a post on this subject seemed to me to be a must. Not just to talk about politics, absolutely not! But because I would like to understand two things with you:
What do we really need in Italy?
And what should those who will be elected do to support entrepreneurship or the Italian economy?
There would be so many things to do that I find it difficult to list them all without, however, falling into rhetoric. Therefore I prefer to postpone some food for thought to next week.
Today, however, I would like to talk with you about a higher and, at the same time, indispensable concept that is
credibility.
My experience leads me to think that our country abroad is more loved than hated, and that’s a good thing. However, this does not detract from the fact that there is much work to be done to shake off the “masks of Harlequin and Pulcinella” with which we are often identified.
Globally we are considered as artists, brilliant and endowed with great technical and intellectual skills, yes. But at the same time also not very reliable, not credible and not very manageable.
It is pointless to deny that these generalizations (even if wrong as such) are probably a historical burden that we bear from time immemorial, supported in part by an inclination to self-flagellation that characterizes us well, and, in part, perhaps even by the not infrequent foreign negative media campaigns. I believe that perhaps we could also create our own to improve this situation at least a little.
Think of Switzerland, for example. How often do we take it as an example of a country where everything works perfectly? And yet in Switzerland too, things often do not work out as they should.
So what’s different? Recently I had the opportunity to take a long trip with an Italian who – for several decades now – has lived in Switzerland. This person told me that the typical and persistent attitude of his fellow citizens is to deny wholly and with great conviction that in Switzerland there are several things that objectively do not work. Or, much more simply, they avoid “making noise” about crime news stories that also happen there as unfortunately is somewhat the case in all countries.
Now, I do not want to say that attitudes of this type are correct and/or to be shared; I would say however that
perhaps we Italians should put more energy into emphasising our qualities – because we all have qualities – than into highlighting our flaws. Don’t you agree?
If we focus this discourse on the normality of commercial relations, I see that unfortunately there are still many countries and companies that are wary of collaborating with Italian companies. And it is precisely on this point that I believe there is still a lot to work on. Also and above all at the political level…
